Lattice targets automotive market with CPLDs

SAN FRANCISCO  Lattice Semiconductor Corp. said Wednesday (April 19) that automotive versions of its MachXO and ispMACH 4000V programmable logic devices have been characterized and qualified to meet the certification requirements of the AEC-Q100 standard, a guideline developed by major automakers and suppliers for qualifying electronic components.

Designated the LA-MachXO and LA-ispMACH 4000V product families, these are the first Lattice devices created specifically for the automotive market, Lattice (Hillsboro, Ore.) said. Production quantities of the new devices are expected be available this quarter, the company said.

Lattice also said Wednesday that it is "aggressively" seeking ISO/TS-16949 Quality Systems Certification by year end, and that it is taking the necessary steps to join the technical committee of the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) as an associate member.

According to Lattice, LA-MachXO devices support applications that traditionally have been addressed either by high-density complex programmable logic devices devices (CPLD) or low-capacity FPGAs, but with a more comprehensive and cost-effective architecture and technology. Lattice calls the LA-ispMACH 4000V automotive family as a low-cost alternative to ASICs for automotive design, saying that the product family offers strong performance and low power consumption.

"The automotive market is one of the fastest growing areas for programmable logic devices," said Stan Kopec, Lattice vice president of marketing, in a statement. "FPGAs and CPLDs are finding broad use in automotive performance, safety and infotainment applications. The launch of our new Lattice Automotive products, as well as our initiative to qualify for ISO/TS-16949 certification, is a measure of our ongoing and expanding commitment to serve our customers in the automotive industry."

The AEC-Q100 is defined by the AEC as a "stress test for qualification" for ICs, while ISO/TS-16949 is an international standards automotive quality systems technical specification. According to Lattice, electronic system suppliers to the automotive market increasingly require that semiconductor suppliers provide products compliant to the AEC-Q100 standard and ISO/TS-16949 certification of their quality systems.

LA-MachXO256 pricing starts at $1.95 per unit in 100,000 unit quantities. Prices for the LA-ispMACH 4032V start at 95 cents per unit in 100,000 unit quantities. The devices are available now for orders in lead-free TQFP and fine-pitch thin ball grid array packages, Lattice said.